Oliver Moore Bootmaker

[dopey]

I frequently walk past Oliver Moore Bootmaker (housed with and connected to Tru Form, a retail operation) (Lex between 64th and 65th Street in NYC) in the mornings, when it is closed. Today, I went by them when they were open and decided to drop in. While the shop was just opening up, I was greeted by John who happened to have a bit of a recently closed shoe in his hands. I spoke to him a little bit about what they do and saw some of their old models on display (including the ones in the Vass book). Here is a short report.

Price: $2,900 for the first pair, which includes a $1,000 last fee. I don't know about trees or if there are upcharges for things like hand stitching or shell or anything else.

John is, among other things, a closer AND pattern maker. The shoe he had in his hand when I walked in was a loafer, with the leather and lining closed, but for the holes punched for the hand stitching of the apron (non functional, Alden LHS style, and they try for a prominent bead under the stitching). He had an envelope with the paper patterns for an oxford shoe on the table, as well as a last all covered with tape on which he was drawing a pattern. He told me he does the actual closing at home. Making itself is done in the basement. John is Lebanese, and he introduced me to Nikki, another closer/pattern guy, who is Greek. He ran through the nationalities of the lastmaker (George, I think) and everyone else, pointing out that it is a mini-U.N. Paul, the owner, who is in charge of the bespoke program and who measures along with the other lastmaker was not there.

One interesting note is that they tend to work from stock lasts, except when people have severe mechanical problems. Ordinarily, they measure, get a stock last and add to it as needed. He said they sometimes remove material, but that is very rare (BTW, the lasts are plastic and they remove by grinding with a machine). He showed me a ladies last with the usual leather bits attached. John showed me a foot tracing with very detailed measurements that they took. As he described it, the stock lasts go down to AAA so they can always get one small enough.

While looking at samples yields only so much, I noticed a strong preference for spade soles. Dressier shoes had a closely trimmed waist with a moderate fiddle. They like to work with shell cordovan and that was what John had in his hands when I walked in.

[MTM]

Price: $2,900 for the first pair, which includes a $1,000 last fee. ...

One interesting note is that they tend to work from stock lasts....

Is this a reasonable charge when working from stock lasts?

[dopey]

Price: $2,900 for the first pair, which includes a $1,000 last fee. ...

One interesting note is that they tend to work from stock lasts....

Is this a reasonable charge when working from stock lasts?

Well . . . I am not really qualified to determine what is a reasonable charge. I will note that, unlike most of the English makers, it is a one time charge. If the level of fit is as good as using a rough turn blank, then I suppose the charge is as reasonable as any other. Ultimately, I would judge by what you get, not how they get you there.

But I am just the reporter here. I don't work for Oliver Moore and I am not a customer -- I am just a guy who stopped in the shop while out on a stroll.